The authorities of the United Arab Emirates have arbitrarily detained Mosaab bin Ahmed Abdul Aziz, holding him for sixteen days beyond the expiry of his three-year sentence. His term in Al-Wathba prison, on charges of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, should have finished on 20th October 2017. However, he was denied immediate release on the grounds that authorities were waiting for a travel permit from National Security to allow him to leave the UAE.

Mosaab’s family was asked to buy his ticket on November 7th, but when they contacted Al Wathba prison on November 6th to confirm the ticket details they were told that Mosaab had already been deported that day, and flown to Cairo on Egypt Airways flight 915 at 12:55. He was sent to Egypt by force despite his sentence stating that he should have freedom of choice as to the destination for his deportation.

His family assigned a lawyer to verify his travel, and the lawyer contacted the Egyptian Air Aviation Administration who, after checking the reservations and the names of the passengers, denied that Mosaab bin Ahmed Abdul Aziz had travelled on any of their aircraft from the United Arab Emirates.

When Mosaab’s family asked the Al Wathba prison authorities about the fate of their son, the prison administration insisted that he was indeed deported on Egypt Airways on November 6th. This was despite them having promised to deport him on November 7th, and after the family had booked him a flight on 7th November with Egypt Airways departing at 5:35.

After days of waiting and worry about the fate of their son, the family has learned that Mosaab is in Egypt. He is currently being kept at a secret detention location and denied access to a lawyer or family visits. This presents the concern that he could be subjected to torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions from him, and might also be tried a second time by the Egyptian judiciary.

The International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR) expresses deep concern about the UAE authorities’ violation of the provisions of Article III of the International Convention against Torture by the deportation of Mosaab bin Ahmed Abdel Aziz to Egypt, since there are serious reasons to believe that he is at risk of torture there as Egyptian officials are known to be systematically mistreating political activists.

We recall that Mosaab was arrested by the UAE State Security Services on charges of affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood movement on October 21, 2014 on the basis of confessions extracted under torture and ill-treatment, contrary to his assertion that he is not involved in any way in political activities. It is believed rather that he is being detained because of his father's work as an adviser to former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi. We also reiterate our concern that he has been denied the right to contact a lawyer and to family visits while under interrogation at a secret location.

In view of the above, the International Centre for Justice and Human Rights holds the authorities of the UAE fully responsible for the deportation of Mosaab bin Ahmed Abdul Aziz to the Egyptian state, thereby turning him over to the Egyptian authorities in flagrant breach of the provisions of Article III of the International Convention Against Torture, which the UAE joined in 2012.

The ICJHR also calls on the Egyptian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Mosaab Ahmed Abdul Aziz, to disclose the place of his detention, to immediately and unconditionally release him and to grant him his right to contact a lawyer and to receive family visits.

We call on the WGAD and WGEID to:

1. Undertake the case of Mosaab bin Ahmed Abdul Aziz

2. Investigate his disappearance

3. Address the Emirati and Egyptian governments requesting them to reveal his circumstances and the place of his detention, to immediately release him and to grant him the right to reparation and rehabilitation.